AP - Residents and recovery teams began fanning out across south Texas at dawn Thursday and cars crept along roads with darkened stoplights as the region got its first look at the destruction left by Hurricane Dolly.
AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as climate and energy issues at Germany's chancellery Thursday, part of a tour aimed at lifting the first-term senator's international standing.
AP - Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it lost $8.67 billion in the second quarter and will retool two more North American truck and sport utility vehicle plants to build small, fuel-efficient vehicles.
AP - About 2 million Americans get a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to consumers.
AP - Rescue legislation sailed through the House on Wednesday aimed at helping 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure and preventing the collapse of troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
AP - The towering trucks that give U.S. troops the best protection against roadside bombs and enemy bullets also make them vulnerable to routine hazards like sharp turns, rutted roads and rickety bridges.
AP - Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young dinosaur, a nature museum announced Thursday.
AP - 50 Cent has sued Taco Bell, claiming the fast-food restaurant chain is using his name without permission in advertising that asks him to call himself 99 Cent.
AP - CC Sabathia threw a three-hitter, his third straight complete game for his new team, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Wednesday night.
AP - Jessica Hardy's first trip to the Olympics could be over before it began. The swimmer tested positive for a banned substance, leaving her just two weeks to pursue any appeals before the Beijing Games begin.